About me

My name is Tom Hillenbrand. I amwriting - mainly novels, but also some non-fiction (scroll down for a list of my books). Before I morphed into a full-time novelist, I covered technology and business for DER SPIEGEL’s online edition, Financial Times Deutschland and others. I live in Munich which is in Bavaria which is in Germany (kind of). When I am not writing, chances are you will find me at the gym or in a dungeon (not the whips-and-latex-kind, but the geeks-with-odd-shaped-dice-and-soda-kind).

Contact

Please do not send me any manuscripts. Unsolicited manuscripts sent by snail mail will be barbecued in my backyard. Unsolicited manuscripts sent by email will be printed out before being barbecued in my backyard.

Books (fiction)

My sci-fi thriller "Hologrammatica" is set in 2088. Three catastrophes have ravaged the planet - climate change, a virus that has greatly decimated world population and a crisis known as "The Turing Incident". Private eye Galahad Singh is hired to find a missing computer programmer who worked on encrypting mind uploads - digital replications of human brains. Who kidnapped the programmer? Soon Singh doubts that his adversary is human. English summary and rights info here.

My dystopian scifi thriller "Drone State“ is set in a future European Union that has become the perfect surveillance state. It won the Glauser prize for best German detective novel and the Laßwitz prize for best science fiction novel in 2014. It is currently available in German, English, French and Japanese. English summary and rights info here.

My historical novel „The Coffee Thief“ is a kind of Ocean’s Eleven with musketeers and powdered wigs. Set in the late 17th century, it is based on the true story of how the Dutch stole coffee plants from the Ottomans and broke the Turkish monopoly on the „wine of Islam“. Currently available in German, Spanish, Dutch and Russian. English summary and rights info here.

My Xavier Kieffer mystery series is about a cook and accidental detective. In every volume, Kieffer solves a murder (and uncovers a food scandal). The books are currently available in German, Italian, Spanish and Polish and are currently being made into a movie. English summary and rights info here.

"The Drones of Monsieur Leclerq“ is a collection of columns first published in the German edition of „Wired“ magazine - offering glimpses into a strange future, set in the world of „Drone Country“. Available in German.

Books (non-fiction)

Co-written with Konrad Lischka, and crowdfunded by hundreds of fans, "Dragonfathers: The History of Role-Playing Games and the Birth of the Virtual World“ is a 360 page full color book about the history of pen & paper RPGs like "Dungeons & Dragons". It traces the roots of these analog virtual realities to early fantasy stories and Prussian war game simulations. The book is currently available in German, but you can find an English summary here.

"The King’s NSA“ is an essay about the roots of mass surveillance in the Baroque era. It shows how Louis XIV and other monarchs used letters and ciphers to control the flow of information during the Enlightenment. Based on a Re:Publica speech, available in German and English.

"Bits & Bites. The invention of food“: What do iPhones and chocolate bars have in common? "Bits & Bites" looks at innovation in the food sector since the stone age. The essay is available in German and English.

Drone State is here

Very happy to announce that the English edition of my 2014 scifi-noir "Drohnenland" ("Drone State") is finally here. Available in all good bookstores and at Amazon.

Some info about the book:

DRONE STATE

Glauser Award 2015 – Best German Crime Novel

Lasswitz Award 2015 – Best German SF Novel

Why interview witnesses when all their movements and conversations have already been archived on a hard disk? Why investigate crime scenes when police drones have already photographed them from all possible angles?

A Brussels MP is found murdered near the EU capital. At first, detective Aart van der Westerhuizen is confident he can solve the case quickly using Europol‘s near-omniscient police computer TEREISIAS. But then he realizes the digital evidence may have been tampered with. Soon Aart becomes embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens to shake Europe to its core.